The Canon 430ex II

Couple of days ago I purchased a Canon 430ex II. I've been wanting to replace my old Sigma 500 dg st these past few years and I finally convinced myself that it's time. Due to problems I've experienced with the Sigma, I needed a more reliable flash that has all the features that I need that wasn't in my older flash. Just to let you know, the Sigma 500 dg st, and the super, has compatibility problems with the Canon 50d. You'd have to send yours to Sigma to have it rechipped to be compatible with the 50d. Problems I have encountered were inaccurate e-ttl reading which results in overexposure, or underexposure, and also the zoom head adjustment. The Sigma flash will just keep moving the zoom head non stop. This will never stop until you turn the unit off and then on again, till it does the same thing again.

I didn't really have time to send the unit to Sigma, nor planing to spend more money in shipping to have it rechipped so I decided to buy a new flash unit. And I'm so glad I did.

I did research online for the best flash. I narrowed it down to the Metz, the Nissin, and the Canon itself. For a couple of dollars more, I decided to get the Canon one. Although I was thinking of the higher end 580ex II...I just thought that I'd rather use the money I save with the 430ex II to buy another one for a mobile setup, and that's what I did.

The flash itself is really small and light, compared to my Sigma. The lcd in the back is pretty neat, and the buttons were snappy and responsive. I also love the way it mounts into my camera. The version II of both the 430 and the 580 ex's have a quick release button that makes attaching it to the camera really easy. Here are the things I love about it:

Quick release button for mounting and removing from the camera.
Supports high speed sync, and 2nd curtain.
Really fast recycling time.
Ability to be a slave flash with the 580exII or the Canon ST-E2
Buttons are really responsive.
Really quiet, you cannot hear it recharge.

I used it for a fashion show over the weekend and this flash rocks! I took around 150 shots around 2-3 seconds apart. The flash never...and I say NEVER failed on me, not even once.

All in all, a very good value for a mini flash. If you have a wad of money to spend, I'd suggest get the bigger 580ex II, otherwise, this is a really good deal next to it!